TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — German and Japanese semiconductor material suppliers are continuing to expand their presence in Taiwan as new geopolitical and technological dynamics transform the global semiconductor industry.

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) Consulting Director Ray Yang (楊瑞臨), says that as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) continues to apply new techniques, the Japanese and German factories are seeking to collaborate with TSMC to increase their own competitive position in the industry.

Yang said the geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine were also accelerating the firms’ deeper investment in Taiwan to offset the risk of interruptions from conflict in Eastern Europe, per a CNA report. A lot of the raw materials used by Japanese and German firms are sourced from Ukraine and Russia.

Japanese firm Adeka on February 17 announced its subsidiary Adiko Precision Chemicals is building a new plant for the production of high-end logic semiconductor materials in Taiwan. This new investment will come to about NT$600 million (US$21.05 million) with construction due to begin in August this year, it is projected to be operational by 2024.

Sumitomo Bakelite announced last November a similar project in Kaoshiung. The Japanese firm is due to break ground at the site next month.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Merck Group in December last year announced that it will invest around NT$17 billion (US$612 million) in Taiwan over the next five to seven years expanding its operations. This year Merck will build a new 15-hectare production center in Kaohsiung’s Science Park – the firm’s first large-scale production and application R&D center for semiconductor materials.

Another German supplier, Heraeus Group, also announced in December, it will set up a similar facility in Taiwan’s Hsinchu Science Park.

Yang says TSMC’s advanced fabrication processes include film thinning, exposure, etching and others, which are continually updated and improved through new technologies. Key materials and chemical gases that are used in this process must also be reduced in volume or recycled to meet sustainability targets.

He says while South Korea and Taiwan have been the centers for semiconductor manufacturing over the past two decades, Japan and Germany have continued to dominate in the research and development of key semiconductor materials. With the move toward onshoring semiconductor supply chains in Europe, the U.S. and Japan, these material suppliers are adapting to the changing ecosystem.

Yang said, despite its best efforts, China still cannot catch up to the advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes of the integrated international players. Taiwanese firms, by comparison, are relatively open, Yang says, and if global suppliers want to take their wafer purification technology to the next level, they must work with TSMC.

●Origin：Taiwan News By Liam Gibson
●Link：https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4450042